When the physicists need burner phones,
that’s when you know America’s changed

At international academic conferences recently, one sees an interesting trend.

Some American participants are travelling with “burner” phones
or have minimalist laptops running browsers and not much else.

In other words, they are equipped with the same kind of kit that security-conscious people used to bring 15 years ago when travelling to China

Many teachers and researchers in US universities are now fearful of what lies ahead.

No line of inquiry is safe from the raging firestorm of Maga intolerance.

The looming crisis in the US is beginning to remind people in Europe of the 1930s,
when the UK and the US began to realise that Jewish scientists needed to be rescued from the Nazis.

About 2,000 scientists and academics fled the fascist countries between 1933 and 1941,
fearing for themselves or Jewish family members.

Then, universities in the US and the UK made space for and welcomed a whole generation of geniuses

Now, in a different age, there are stirrings in Europe to provide safe places for American researchers.

In France, Aix-Marseille University is welcoming American scientists whose work has become untenable after the Trump administration’s cuts in certain academic sectors.

This is the beginning of something hopeful.

But it also raises the question of what UK institutions are doing to meet the coming challenge.
The answer, at the moment, seems to be nothing much.

Perhaps that’s because most of British academia still can’t get its head around the idea that
the US is now an enemy, not an ally,
and that the “special relationship” is yesterday’s story.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/29/when-the-physicists-need-burner-phones-thats-when-you-know-americas-changed?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other